Entertainment: You're asked to make a graduation project, but you're asked to film Ultrama

Less than two hours have passed since Lao Tang released his video, "A Graduation Ceremony Half a Century Late."

Without any warning, Light Chaser Animation's official account suddenly updated a special interview video simultaneously across the entire internet!

Video Title:

Interview with Audi Ultraman: Gu Nan and Ya Demeng

In this parallel world, Takeshi Ya, played by Hatsunori Hasegawa, is a very peaceful and gentle person.

He has spent most of his life seriously acting; he is a pure acting fanatic and has never been interested in anything else.

He never speaks carelessly or makes unfounded claims; he is a highly respected veteran in the entertainment industry, possessing both virtue and talent. (To clarify, to distance this from reality.)

This interview instantly went viral on Bilibili upon its release.

Those viewers who were just heartbroken by episode 41 and were looking for a place to vent their emotions could no longer contain themselves.

The video views skyrocketed at an alarming rate, and the screen was instantly filled with comments.

The video feed lit up.

The background is the reception room of the Chasing Light Cinema.

Gu Nan sat on the left side of the sofa.

Sitting opposite him was a sprightly old man with a full head of white hair.

That gentle smile still makes him instantly recognizable as the same Mr. Takeshi Yago who did the morning handstand back then.

Gu Nan began with a smile:

"Hello everyone, I am Gu Nan, the current director and chief screenwriter of the Ultraman series."

"Today we have invited Mr. Hasegawa, the actor who plays Mr. Yagi Takeshi."

At this moment, the live chat was flooded with comments like, "Hello, teacher!"

"Senior, why don't you share with everyone the motto you just told me privately?"

Hasegawa bowed slightly to the camera, his voice steady:

"Hello everyone, thank you for inviting me to visit, Ms. Gu."

My motto is that everyone has a mission that they need to spend their whole life to accomplish.

"To achieve this goal, we must do our best in what we are doing right now and do every little thing with care."

[Eddie's Advice!]

[The teacher has such a refined air!]

[She's 80 years old!]

How many years have passed since that "long time no see" was said!

[The old man is in great spirits; the after-sales service from Zhuiguang is top-notch!]

[Seriously, the Ultraman teacher theme was very innovative, it's a pity Tsuburaya Productions couldn't stick with it until the end.]

Gu Nan got to the point:

"Senior, the character you played, Takeshi Yagi, had a unique sense of naivety and inexperience. Was that intentional?"

Hasegawa laughed heartily:

"Yes."

"At that time, I was also in my early twenties, just like Yato Takeshi in the drama, a newcomer who had just entered the workforce."

"I was really clumsy back then. I could never do anything right and I would break out in a sweat all the time."

"I often get teased by people on set for sweating too much."

"You could say that the character of Ya no Takeshi is like a documentary of my youth."

[Hahaha, the aliens are sweating buckets!]

[It turns out he was just playing himself; no wonder his performance was so vivid!]

[What a ridiculous documentary! The teacher is too modest.]

Gu Nan followed up the conversation and asked:

How did you cultivate your identity as a "teacher" back then?

Hasegawa's eyes revealed a hint of reminiscence:

"I didn't have a good relationship with my teachers when I was in junior high school."

"Later, I worked for an education magazine, where I would sit in the back of a truck and go to various schools to distribute the magazine every day."

"One night I read through all the education magazines, and I realized that the educational methods I didn't like were wrong."

"So when I received this role, I carefully considered the attitude of an ideal teacher. I hope to become the kind of person that students feel is so lucky to have met."

I've been caught in the rain myself, so I want to offer my umbrella to others.

You haven't just encountered that teacher, you've become that teacher!

[The old man truly put his heart into reading education magazines all night long.]

Gu Nan said with a smile:

"Many people think that Takeshi Yagami is not aloof; he makes silly mistakes and is even criticized by students."

Hasegawa nodded repeatedly:

"I don't like a condescending attitude."

"Teachers are not perfect; humans are inherently not powerful."

"A teacher should be a senior who stands on the same level as you."

"I remember there was a scene in the show where a guy got dumped, and Yato Takeshi also saw the scene where he got dumped, and he was even criticized."

"It's the same in real life. I wore sunglasses on the filming bus, and the extras who were playing middle school students immediately complained that my glasses were too old-fashioned and didn't suit me."

"I was the most talked-about character on set."

Gu Nan asked with a smile:

"Do you still remember rakugo (traditional Japanese storytelling) and Katsuyoshi?"

Hasegawa blurted out:

"certainly!"

"Rakugo (traditional Japanese storytelling), supermarket, doctor, Hojun..."

"Everyone has a nickname, which makes it very easy to remember."

"We were like friends on set."

"Unfortunately, most of those kids gave up their acting careers after filming."

"Ms. Gu, I am truly moved that you went to such lengths, even across the ocean, to bring these children to participate in this episode!"

"Arigato!"

[Wow! The actor is actually himself!]

[Yeah, is anyone else only just realizing this now!?]

[That old thief has such powerful connections?!]

[Chasing the light has power!]

These young actors are already middle-aged or elderly!

[Back then, Edison was so down-to-earth; that kind of close teacher-student relationship was truly enviable.]

"I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it!"

"It was your excellent performance back then, along with the outstanding scripts written by the veteran screenwriters during the Tsuburaya Productions era, that left a deep impression on these young actors!"

"It was precisely because of these positive impressions that I was able to persuade some of them to reprise their roles!"

"Also, just a little gossip: many viewers are quite interested in your romantic scenes with Ms. Kyoko back then," Gu Nan started the conversation.

"Gu Sang is actually making fun of an old man like me!"

"It's more like unrequited love than a romantic relationship."

"In our time, when we encountered a beautiful woman with long, flowing hair, it was truly something we could only admire from afar."

"I usually don't dare to talk to her much. When she says good morning to me, I quickly reply with a good morning. I'm very nervous."

"The script's depiction closely reflects the real psychology of that time."

Gu Nan intervened at the opportune moment:

"In the drama, you are not only a teacher, but also a team member."

How to balance these two identities?

Hasegawa answered carefully:

"When I'm playing a team member, I demand that I behave properly."

"But when I played the role of a teacher, I let loose and showed more human touch."

"Wouldn't it be interesting to portray aliens as more humane than humans, even sweating profusely because of their incompetence, making people marvel at the existence of such useless aliens?"

"Only by integrating these different perspectives can we create a three-dimensional arrow."

[To reduce divinity to that of a flawed, ordinary person—that's what makes a masterpiece.]

That's why Eddie looks so approachable.

Gu Nan opened the script:

"When it comes to monsters, the core concept is negative energy."

"This is a groundbreaking concept in the Ultraman series."

What was your opinion back then?

Hasegawa pondered for a moment:

"At first, I couldn't understand the phrase 'monsters appearing,' it didn't feel real."

"Later I saw in the dialogue that it mentioned the evil and negative energy of humanity."

"The invisible dark matter grew to a gigantic size and transformed into a monster."

"After I understood, I made sure to use more positive words and say thank you more often."

"Many of the monsters in the show have their own reasons, and Eddie understands them, sometimes even refraining from killing them."

Gu Nan recounted some interesting anecdotes from the filming:

"Did you perform many of the action scenes yourself back then?"

Hasegawa nodded:

"I used to be a wrestler and a kendo athlete in school."

"I was young then! I was very healthy!"

"I'm fairly good at action scenes."

"Back then, if you were suspended by wires to film a single scene, it would take a very long time."

"There was also a scene where I jumped into the sea. I'm not good at swimming, so I was terrified."

"The camera was filming me from a distance, there was nothing around me, it was terrifying, I'll never forget it."

Gu Nan joked:

"What about when you transform?"

Hasegawa laughed:

"The initial flashlight sticks were too big!"

"It's hard to pull out when it's hidden behind your back; it often falls to the ground."

"The director demanded long takes, and I got yelled at if I didn't stop at the right spot."

"While we were filming, I kept telling myself not to drop it, but as soon as I got into position, it fell to the ground. I looked really nervous."

"I feel bad for the old man."

[Turns out she was afraid of getting yelled at for dropping the transformation device!]

[The imagery is vivid: a chaotic scene of aliens frantically trying to make a move.]

Gu Nan continued digging:

"It seems the production team also contacted foreign fan groups at the time?"

Hasegawa gestured excitedly:

"Yes! When we went to the ski resort to film, a group of elementary school students from America ran over."

"Many of their fathers are air force pilots."

"They treated Ultraman as reality, surrounding me and asking me what the cockpit looked like, asking very detailed questions."

"I'm happy that foreign children can enjoy themselves."

Gu Nan nodded:

"Do you have any particular impressions of the female team members from back then?"

Hasegawa praised:

"Ms. Hagiwara is very beautiful."

"The women's team uniforms back then were super cool, clean and capable."

"The men were all stunned by its beauty."

"In this way, a total of fifty episodes were filmed."

"This is the first time I've acted in fifty episodes in a row. It's like running a marathon. I doubted whether I could keep going halfway through, but I really breathed a sigh of relief after filming was over."

As the interview progressed, the atmosphere in the video gradually shifted from relaxed to more serious topics.

Gu Nan put down the script in his hand and his smile disappeared.

He looked directly at Hasegawa across from him, his voice softening slightly, yet carrying a power that reached the depths of his heart:

"Senior, the school arc of Ultraman 80, which consisted of the first eleven episodes, ended abruptly due to various real-world reasons, without even giving the audience a proper farewell."

"What does this mean to you personally?"

Hasegawa's smile gradually faded at that moment.

He took a deep breath, as if lost in memories of the distant past, his eyes revealing an undisguised sense of melancholy and regret.

"That's a huge regret."

Hasegawa's voice was somewhat low, as if carrying the weight of half a century, as he spoke slowly and deliberately about his inner struggle: "It is a very profound regret."

He crossed his arms, leaned slightly forward, and his tone became exceptionally solemn:

"Unfortunately, the middle school arc ended without a conclusion."

"In my heart, there has always been a feeling that things are not over."

"Ya no Takeshi, as a teacher, suddenly left Sakuragaoka Junior High School without even saying goodbye to his students."

"Those children, Rakugo, Supermarket, Doctor, Hojun... they must be waiting for their teacher to return."

"But that goodbye, and this card has been stuck for so many years."

"The young man of yesteryear has grown into a decrepit old man, halfway to his grave!"

Hasegawa's gaze drifted into the void, as if piercing through the screen before him, transporting him back to the Sakuraoka Junior High School playground under the setting sun fifty years ago:

"For the past fifty years, I've been wondering, what were Ya's teacher's feelings like?"

"He must feel very guilty."

"He came to the school with great enthusiasm, wanting to teach the children and to curb negative energy at its source."

"But he realized he couldn't do it; he couldn't stop the monster from appearing, so he had no choice but to leave."

"He was a deserter."

"Therefore, he dared not go back to see those students who were full of expectations."

Gu Nan listened quietly, without interrupting the old man's heartfelt words.

Hasegawa's eyes reddened slightly. He turned to look at Gu Nan, his tone filled with deep gratitude and relief:

"So when I received the invitation from the Ultraman Mebius crew and heard that you, Director Gu, planned to make a special episode about Takeshi Yagami's reunion with his students from back then, I really didn't know how to describe my feelings at that moment."

"I feel incredibly lucky from the bottom of my heart."

"In that sense, I am truly happy."

"To have the opportunity, decades later, to completely resolve the issues that were left unresolved back then, and to broadcast them to everyone."

Hasegawa took a deep breath, trying his best to calm the surging emotions within him. His voice was soft yet full of strength:

"Humans are only considered young when they are young."

"But isn't life longer?"

"Life has its ups and downs, and no matter what, this is a theme we must face."

"To be able to bow and thank my former students after living most of my life, almost fifty years, is an immense blessing to me."

"My heart is filled with gratitude for the opportunity to reunite Yagami with his students."

Gu Nan nodded solemnly, offering the same sincere respect: "This is also what I wanted to say to you."

"That 'thank you' wasn't just what Takeshi Yagami said to the students, it's also what we, the viewers who watched Eddie grow up, most want to say to you."

Hasegawa waved his hands repeatedly, a smile returning to his face, which bore the marks of time, carrying a sense of complete relief and clarity.

"Actually, when I finished filming Eddie, I thought the show wouldn't cause much of a stir."

"When I walk down the street, no one will recognize me or shout that it's Eddie."

"It ended quietly like that."

"I've always felt that my Ultraman series is in an awkward position where it doesn't become a hot topic."

"But Director Gu, and the creators told me that this show has a lot of fans."

"Many people have experienced gentleness and learned courage because of this drama."

"The effort I put in was truly felt and understood by that group of very sensitive and sincere viewers."

Hasegawa straightened his back, his tone revealing a pride that could transcend time:

"This is something I'll be proud of for the rest of my life."

Gu Nan smiled and concluded:

"This film is definitely not an outdated or stale film."

"The love and courage that transcend time will last forever."

Hasegawa nodded emphatically, his gaze unwavering:

"Yes, it's definitely not outdated."

"Now I can look at this work from an objective perspective."

"Sometimes when I watch it myself, I'm amazed that it's even better than I imagined."

He faced the camera with a smile as bright, pure, and energetic as Takeshi Yagami's back then, as if bidding a final farewell and expressing his hopes to audiences worldwide over the past fifty years:

"So, whether you're a viewer who's been watching before or a viewer experiencing this show for the first time, I hope you can all enjoy it."

Thank you everyone!

"Thank you, Mr. Gu, for giving Ultraman Ace a perfect ending after so many years!"

The image freezes on Hasegawa's gentle yet infectious smile.

As the gentle end credits music slowly rose, this special interview video, which carried countless memories and emotions, officially came to an end.